OPERATIONS DIRECTOR

Company DescriptionMachine is a creative agency where fearless minds, lead to borderless ideas.Our creativity is unrestricted by four borders and character limits.Because we believe ideas should live beyond mediums and in consumers’ minds.Machine_ is part of Publicis Groupe, the fastest-growing global network. We have over 100 people located across 3 offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.ResponsibilitiesClients: Confidently engage with senior clients during fee negotiations, reconciliations, and indeveloping business cases for additional scope and funding alongside client leads andfinancial leads. Provide hands-on oversight and quality assurance on key, high-value projects, ensuring on-time, on-budget delivery. Build and maintain trusted relationships with key clients, ensuring operational alignment with client expectations.Commercials Enhance agency performance by implementing efficient processes, resource planning, technology adoption, and strategic hiring. Drive and manage Commit and RF planning cycles, ensuring FTE planning metrics aremet across all client models and the overall agency. Manage all associated new hires,increases and productivity outcomes. Ensure 80% - 100% FTE billability of resources and propose organogram refinementsto improve staff cost ratios. Lead the Account Management team on financial planning and optimisation. Manage contractors, freelancers or suppliers. Review and manage all agency’s budgets and delegated fees. Approve all travel costs and manage the travel budget. Manage and negotiate high-level vendor relationships (including South African print,web, production, and event partners) to ensure quality, cost efficiency, and alignmentwith agency objectives. Oversee agency production to maximize quality and profitability across all deliverables.Planning Lead high-level resource planning and strategic resource management across allagency functions (creative, strategy, social media, content marketing and clientaccount management). Finding solutions for clients within and outside of agency functions which couldinclude but not short of, data, production, PR, digital & media. Manage the Resource Co-Ordinators and collaborate with the Account Leads, Creative Leads, and team leads to implement plans effectively and maintain optimalresource utilization. Partner with the Leadership Team to align operational plans with the agency’s strategicvision. Identify and manage operational and project risks proactively, developing mitigationplans to protect agency profitability and reputation.Processes Champion change management initiatives, including stakeholder communication,training, and success measurement to ensure smooth adoption of new processes,tools, or structural changes. Continually evaluate, refine, and implement agency processes to ensure they arefuture-fit and scalable. Establish and document operational workflows that enable seamless delivery acrosscreative, content marketing, strategy, social, production, Publicis partner agencies andaccount management disciplines. Implement processes to optimize resource allocation, ensuring balanced workloads and meeting project timelines. Develop and manage key operational metrics and reporting frameworks to measure and continuously improve delivery performance.Technology Evaluate, implement, and integrate operational software solutions relevant to South African agency needs (e.g., Chase, Altair, Roar or similar systems). Manage change adoption for all technology implementations, ensuring staff training and process alignment. Monitor and report on agency time tracking and billability metrics, driving efficiency and transparency. Leverage AI and automation tools where relevant to enhance productivity, whilemanaging AI-related risks to the agency’s competitive advantage.Collaborate closely with the Publicis IT team to meet technology requirements, including South African POPIA compliance and data security best practices.People Ensure accurate and updated capacity planning, supporting optimal resource utilization. Foster a collaborative, high-performance culture across operational teams anddepartments. Work effectively with creative, strategy, content marketing and account managementteams to deliver operational excellence. Partner with the Talent Team to support recruitment, onboarding, and retentionstrategies tailored to South Africa’s talent landscape while following Publicis ways ofworking. Champion a culture of continuous improvement and skills development withinoperational teams. Support the agency’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion by fosteringinclusive processes and ensuring equitable opportunities across operational teams.Qualifications Proven operations management within a full-service advertising or creative agency. Experience managing multiple teams across creative, media, production, digital, andclient service. Strong people management skills, with a focus on building inclusive, high performingteams. Expertise in operational budgeting and financial oversight. Strong process management experience, including workflow design and optimization. Experience managing vendor relationships, including South African suppliers. Proven ability to foster a positive, collaborative agency culture. Expertise in performance management and driving accountability Solid capacity planning and resource forecasting experience. Track record in leading change management initiatives, particularly in agencyenvironments undergoing transformation.